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The Federal Reserve is widely expected to boost the benchmark for short-term borrowing costs at a meeting that concludes Wednesday. Fed officials may also signal that they might pause or halt the rate-hiking campaign early next year.

President Donald Trump's $1.5 trillion of tax cuts, designed to stimulate growth, have decimated government revenue, ballooning the federal budget deficit and forcing Treasury Department officials to cover the gap by borrowing money in ever-growing amounts. Investors face losses in 2019 as yields on Treasury bonds necessarily rise -- to attract enough buyers for the debt.

The Teacher Retirement System of Texas lost 0.6% during the third quarter on its $14 billion holdings of stocks from countries like China, Brazil, Russia and Turkey. Such declines helped to cap the fund's overall return to 2.2% -- well below the average for U.S. institutional investment plans.

U.S. bank stocks that were supposed to benefit from rising interest rates and fatter lending profits are getting hammered by investor fears of a recession, feeble trading profits and stiff competition for deposits.

A Labor Department report shows that the U.S. economy added 155,000 jobs in November, down from 250,000 the prior month. Analysts had predicted gains of 195,000. The report comes amid heightened speculation that the economy is slowing.

Recent economic indicators have spurred speculation among traders that the economic stimulus from President Donald Trump's $1.5 trillion of tax cuts might already be fading. A report this week on U.S. jobs growth in November could provide additional evidence.

A day after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said in a speech in New York that interest rates were now "just below" a neutral level, minutes from the central bank's meeting earlier this month show that officials discussed revising a pledge for "further gradual" rate hikes.